DOYLESTOWN, Pa.- Conference road wins are difficult to
obtain. With no upperclassmen on the roster, those wins can be even
tougher to get. Eastern University Women's Basketball used balanced
scoring and solid ball-security to emerge with a 68-65 win at Delaware
Valley College. Gina DiDomenico paced four players in double-figures
with a career-best 18 points.
With the host Aggies committing to
stop Meghan Nowak inside, the Eagles jumped to a 16-6 lead with four
3-pointers in the first six minutes. Kaleigh Boreman made the first two
and DiDomenico, who was 4-of-6 on the afternoon, made a pair. Eastern
made 6-of-14 3-pointers in the first half.
Del Val responded with
a 12-3 run to close the gap to a single point with seven minutes to
go, but Kaitlyn Dougherty connected from distance twice to build the
Eastern lead back to seven with 4:48 on the clock. All the while, the
Aggies held Nowak without a single point. Last year's Freedom Player of
the Year did not have a point, but she collected six of her game-high
sixteen rebounds before the intermission.
With Nowak bottled up,
the Aggies grabbed a briefly-held one-point lead with three minutes to
play in the period. Yazlane Villegas hit a long 2-pointer in response.
Del Val split a pair of free throws to tie the match at 27-27 before
Reilly Gavitt stuck a 15-footer to give Eastern a 31-29 lead at the
half. Gavitt scored a career-best 10 points on the afternoon.
After
the break, the Aggies scored first to tie the game, and they answered a
Dougherty jumper with a 3-pointer to grab their final lead of the match
with 18:48 to play, but DiDomenico again responded with a 3-pointer to
spark an 8-0 Eastern run.
Nowak, who entered the game averaging
19.8 points per game, finally got on the board on a put-back basket and
subsequent free throw to cap the run. Moments later Nowak picked up her
third foul. Eastern Head Coach Nate Davis elected to stay with Nowak in
the game despite the third foul. The risk paid rewards as Nowak started
to establish an inside presence with both scoring and rebounding. After
being held through the first period, she converted three old-fashioned
three-point plays on offensive rebound opportunities and finished with
15 points and 16 rebounds.
Nowak was not the only starter that
Davis trusted to play through foul trouble in the second half. Eastern's
five sophomore starters each played all twenty minutes of the second
half. The group continued to hold the lead through the period.
The
Aggies put together a pair of quick baskets around the five-minute
mark, but DiDomenico answered with her fourth three of the game to put
Eastern up 61-54 with four minutes to play. Delaware Valley made shots
to trim the Eastern lead, but the Eagles made good choices with the ball
and their free throws to stave off the Aggie rally.
Boreman
finished with eight points and seven rebounds and was the only Eastern
starter not in double-figures. Dougherty had 13 points and six boards.Emily Soper and Eireann Anastasi each had 18 to lead the Aggies.
The
Eagles (3-3, 2-0 Freedom) keep pace with FDU-Florham and Misericordia at the top of the Freedom standings. The Eagles have three
tough non-league games next week. They will play at Moravian on Tuesday
and be hosting Salisbury and Juniata on Thursday and Saturday. The
two home games are Toys for Tots events. Fans bringing a new unwrapped
toy to donate will be admitted free of charge.
Box Score
